The Year So Far: Composed in Poetry

This last weekend, I was given the opportunity to attend a poetry reading of my sister's for her new book. Witnessing such a masterful performance, I was nothing short of inspired. Perhaps it was destiny that I would soon come to the very best use of poetry: videogames! With a style, grace, and poise all their own, it's only right our world's richest art-form be shared with that of the virtual one. Therefore, I take it upon myself to craft the gap between these two worlds, armed with every artistic breath I have in my body. With April also being National Poetry month, it was only more appropriate that my blog send-off for the month be dedicated to poetics. So join me in my humble musings as I take a thoughtful gander some of the gaming industry's most interesting occurrences.

To The Video-game Reboot:

You look familiar, yes, I know you!

I remember your passion, your flair, your style

The way you used to capture my eye

A long time ago in that Gamestop store aisle,

But you're out of ideas and in losing your head

So you ditched your sequels and did a reboot instead

You died your hair, put on some cyborg armor

You took some risks, but you weren't the same charmer

You came out a stranger, though at times a bit better

Lara was a blast, but Raiden, put his story in the shredder

What happened to your backstories, I'll never know

I miss cool Kratos, without the flashback overflow

Discourse about a Microtransaction

That thing, what is it?

Feels like cash

Sucked out my pocket

Screens, menus, adds online,

Full of cool stuff

I still have to buy

DLC, you have so much

I want to play with,

Why did you rip us off?

From what should be

in-game?

EA, you crossed a line

My money, it's my own

And my pride, you can's sell that

Because that's mine

An Address to a Rayman

Rayman, oh Rayman!

Oh where for art thou Rayman?

Your charms, your smile, your impish delight

Were all promised me by Feb's early light

But now your coming's late

As back-room deals do often dictate

Yet you promised much, more levels, more bosses

But I would not rather concede honor's losses

For Ubisoft, have you not heard?

People judge you by your word

Fear not, dear Rayman, we will be together

Come the cherished winds of September

Mysterys of the Mogren Kind

I tred through this hallway as

Chaos surround me in its despair

A voice, a man, a flaming horse

My head must be numb from Codec chats

A whale, a sound, a memory found then lost

This bandaged man, these bald-faced lies

What does it mean, where am I now?

Why is my sky filled with a fiery whale?

Lens flare and holograms fill my one eye

But Hayter has gone away, my world shattered

Is nothing real, is nothing sacred?

In these recesses of my forgotten canon

This phantom pain still lingers

Like what I know in my mind is not there

There a Kiefer in my voice, or an eyepatch on wrong?

I can't tell, my is blown; or until the next reveal.

The Tragic Sim City

Come one, come all!

Here my tail of woe!

Sim City, the great city,

The one we love and know

Has fallen before the Fates

Servers crash and connections die,

Its endless troubles are alas no lie

Your beauty speaks, it calls, it teases!

Yet how can I play you,

Your crappy roads, it far from pleases

I pray you get well,

That this sickness passes

So that I can join you,

When your frame-rate is not like molasses

The Dream of the Infinitely Spoiled

I put you on a pedastool

You were my hopes and dreams

Of a perfect game; of the year, and to me

I waited with patience

for years to play you

But there were those haters

who delighted in corrupting

our experience together

The trolls kept posting,

The spoilers kept rolling,

Twitter was a minefield and

site comments a disaster, to be sure

I covered my ears, feared spoiling you

Thanks the high heavens

your story was so grand

that even several words

could not disturb us two

The awards you could win,

I dare to imagine

You my darling Infinite, were worth it

In the end

Eulogy for a Game Company

Many a childhood you captured

'Tis a shame we lost you,

but precious were the hours,

we kept close to our hearts

By land or by sea, you mastered the adventure

Mansions and monkeys were never the same

Atlantis you visited with Indy its star

'Twas far better than his next-gen hopes by far

From the Force your strength flowed,

Deep and wide

From X-Wings and Jedi, Role-playing to shooter,

You gave us a reason to keep our computers,

Running all night long

Atlantis you

Will you keep alive your treasures,

Through 3rd parties a plenty?

Only time will tell

In the meantime we know,

Miss you, we will

To the Health of the Wii U

Nintendo I love, and Wii U, you're a ball

I hold you in my hand

cute gamepad and all

Your touch-screen is marvelous,

Your Netflix works great,

But my shelves, their barren

of titles as of late

The critics do boast

and the skeptics do jest

that you are doomed to failure

and that, gasp, you're only 2nd best

No rush, no hurry, but you need

to pick up the pace

For you don't want to flounder

in poor sales with any haste

More Mario, more Zelda

and all is forgiven

Throw in a great Metroid

And my wallet'd be smitten

An Ode to The Replaced Voice Actor

The booth lies empty

Where you once stood

Making all of our fandom come true

Ironside, your voice and grit

Gave life to your spy, without a fountain of youth

Sam Fisher's a youngster, aren't you at heart too?

You're not alone, not by far

The stars, they vanish, they burst out of sight

Conroy, Hamill, and Hayter too

What will they do?

No Batman, no Joker, no Snake, take-two?

Silence now fills their empty seats

Where charm, your passion, once tickled our ears

Just suppose more jobs will indeed be open

To the like of North, Blum, and Baker

To the Next-Gen Consoles

You promise, you tease,

You make instant sharing

Look like a breeze

Shiny graphics, they're your forte,

Your explosions are rendered

Like any of Michael Bay's

Yet what do you offer

for changing a game?

Is it fun, is it cool?

Or would I rather save for school?

Games this holiday

you must not lack

Or else I fear

I won't be giving your stickz a whack

How pricy are you?

This I need to know

How much money

will I have to show for

if you're system's a bore?

Still, I'll be sold

sooner or later,

as long as your games

boast a reliable creator

Live, Play, Poetry

If you've stayed with me this long, thank you for reading. I just honestly hope it wasn't too embarrassing to cast your gaze upon. May more poetic license be bestowed on the rest of this year's gaming events and stay tuned for more of Tim Gruver's random blogs. Until we meet again!